A little pain now prevents a financial disaster later

Editor: Getting back “every penny” sounds great in the abstract, especially if you follow the right-wing idea that a taxpayer should have the right to pick and choose what government activities get funded (“ ‘I got back every penny’: Inside Trump’s supercharged tax season,” pressdemocrat.com).

Pull back and you see it undercuts a basic premise of having a government: government pays for necessary resources that people may not use themselves.

I’m a senior without kids in school. Should I have the right not to pay taxes to support schools? No. I want those kids to be educated and productive.

Pull back further and you see that, inevitably, government will borrow to cover the deficit. Unless we die soon enough, those chickens will come home to roost. The federal government under both parties has repeatedly chosen cutting taxes and increasing services over deficit reduction.

The endpoint isn’t a government “small enough to drown in the bathtub.” It’s hyper-inflation so deficits can be paid with debased dollars. When that happens politicians can brag, however all but the young, rich will be hurt. Seniors will be hurt the most. Their lifetime of savings will be worth little, and they won’t have time to start over.

I choose some pain now (taxes) over disaster later (hyper-inflation). There is no such thing as a free lunch.

— Howard Hertz, Novato

Just say no to Trump’s $1.5 trillion defense budget

Editor: Donald J. Trump wants $1.5 trillion to fight his wars in Iran and elsewhere (“White House seeks $1.5 trillion for defense,” April 4). Trump and his wealthy friends, including those from the Middle East and around the world, should pony up and pay for his war chest. They can afford it, just as they paid for his new White House.

Trump cares absolutely nothing about the American people, and he fully intends to steal their benefits (health care, education, housing, retirement, veterans services, voting rights, etc.) and redirect their tax dollars to fight his wars.

Hating others at home and abroad means everything to Trump, and helping others means nothing to him.

So Trump’s America will say goodbye to our friends and allies and hello to more enemies and adversaries. Trump’s hate begets hate, and his greed begets greed. Trump is a prolific master conniving liar, and if anyone unquestionably believes or trusts what he says then they have been fooled, big time.

— Joe Clendenin, Santa Rosa

A view of America through eyes of Italy

Editor: Our regular to visits Italy over the decades have turned out to be as much about its people as its history, art, food and wine. Our recent monthlong stay was a welcome respite from the unrelenting flood of disturbing news here. Italians are engaging, welcoming, funny and, as it turns out, they know more about what is going on here than do an embarrassing number of Americans.

In shops, restaurants and on the street, we would be asked, where are you from? This time we answered, California. You mean USA? No, California, we are separate.

They’d smile with a degree of empathy that was a bit surprising and then with ample hand gestures they’d emphasize their displeasure with our regime. They were passionate and informed. Young Italians are still eager to visit the states, but they all replied that they will wait three years. There was an optimism that our ship will right itself, as it always has.

As it is with many European Union countries, politics is a contact sport in Italy. They’ve seen it all. But they still really like this country, the real America, and they happen to be very patient people. Lucky them.

— John Brodey, Santa Rosa

To confirm climate science, just look out the window

Editor: I don’t completely disagree with David Haynes regarding virtue signaling by liberals (“Unimpressed by liberal displays of ‘virtue signaling,’ ” Letters, April 3).

Certainly, some people virtue signal, but most don’t.I have an electric car. I enjoy it very much, particularly now that our deluded and dangerous president has driven up the price of gasoline. It’s one of the best cars I have ever owned (I’m 81). Similarly, I ride a bicycle. I do it because I enjoy this form of exercise.

I don’t expect perfection, but I do expect rational thought. Confirming climate change science is as easy these days as looking out your window. Record heat in March, the lowest snow survey in history, fires almost year-round, etc.

COVID really happened, the vaccine was an extraordinary achievement, saving hundreds of thousands of lives. The lockdowns were problematic in some cases.

We’re learning. Next time it will be better (if we have rational leaders rather than the current cultists). We’re not hysterical.

The Earth is really dying, just slowly. The Chinese are actually far ahead of us in combatting climate change, and we’re going backward, in order to enrich billionaires and satisfy our president’s need for unobstructed ocean views.

Haynes should stop trying to own the libs. That war is becoming passé.

— Jeffrey A. Rapp, Healdsburg